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Monday, August 28, 2006

What is Money? (I mean really, what is it?)

Continuing my reading of books on non-duality led me to Burt Jurgens' trilogy, including Aren't You Just THIS?

It's in this book that I stumbled across a thought about money that jarred me into an awakening.

Someone writes Jurgen, asking him to "Show me the money!"

Jurgen wrestles with the subject and says -

"Well, what is money? Isn't money quite similiar to ego? Or isn't it at least (or perhaps at most) a tool of the ego? A way to exert ego's power through time and space?"

I found that very interesting. I'm well aware that money is a tool. But I hadn't snapped to it being a tool of the ego "through time and space".

Jurgen goes on to say --

"For the most part, money only has actual power at the moment it is spent."

That made me stop and reflect, as well. I began to reconfirm my belief that money is meaningless in and of itself. We want it so we can use it at some future point.

I kept reading and came to this:

"So isn't a desire for money really a desire to change WHAT IS? No, not even that. It is a desire to change WHAT MAY BE."

Ooooooo. That's good. Money is our hope to escape this moment.

More than that, we're in this moment worrying about future moments.

Yet the great irony is, you can never escape this moment or totally control the future ones.

This is it.

The author doesn't spend much more time on the subject, but his sword cut through the illusion long enough for me to see the ego wants money for some future use. In short, we're not happy right now and we want it to escape future moments like right now.

The thing is, all we have is right now.

Once we -- that's you and me -- appreciate this moment and even wallow in it, we get what we need in the next moments. They come out of this moment. And when they get here, it will be this moment, too.

Don't pursue money.

Pursue happiness.

That's what you want money for, anyway.

And from a non-duality view of life, look at what is behind the pursuing.

PS -- If you don't understand any of the above, look at what is trying to understand and then look at what is behind it. What is behind it is you. Remember my favorite T-shirt: "Meditation is not what you think."

PPS - Don't worry. I'll get back to the "real world" in my next post. Indulge me a little for now. Thank you.

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